The prognostic significance of DNA ploidy and SPF, determined on fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples, was analysed in 770 breast cancer patients. Independent prognostic variables for overall survival were node status, histological grade, SPF and tumour size. Node status, histological grade and SPF were independent predictors of disease-free survival. The results of the study will be of help in the planning of treatment and follow-up of breast cancer patients, in particular in neoadjuvant setting and for patients not amenable for surgical treatment, when histological grade cannot be assessed.
COBISS.SI-ID: 678011
We analyzed the frequency of HER2 positivity among 1,162 cases of well-differentiated breast cancer from 6 major breast centers in the US and from the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana. Well-differentiated breast cancers were HER2 positive in 1.6%. Given the low rate of well differentiated HER2 positive tumors, falling within the range reported for false negative IHC tests, HER2 testing should not be considered a standard of care for all patients with well-differentiated breast cancer. These findings are important as they should lead to reduction of unnecessary but relatively expensive testing.
COBISS.SI-ID: 598651
E-cadherin expression was assessed in 54 follicular carcinomas. Reduced expression was associated with widely invasive growth, insular morphology and lesser degree of differentiation. Metastasis-free survival was significantly worse in male patients, widely invasive and poorly differentiated tumours and tumours showing reduced E-cadherin expression. In multivariate analysis, the degree of invasiveness and E-cadherin expression were the only independent prognostic factors. E-cadherin expression could be used as a prognostic marker in widely invasive follicular carcinomas of the thyroid.
COBISS.SI-ID: 257915
In this invited review article we analyzed the problematic areas in diagnosing small round cell tumours of childhood from fine needle aspiration cytology (FNA) samples. A retrospective analysis showed that the accurracy of diagnosis by FNA increased. In the period 1994-2003, correct specific diagnosis was obtained in 75-90%, whereas this proportion was lower by 10-40% in the previous decade. The analysis identified several morphological and immunohistocehemical variants within the entities, which should lead to improvement of the diagnostic accurracy of the FNA examination.
COBISS.SI-ID: 569211
Very few prognostic factors are known in follicular lymphoma (FL). The FL International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) is the most important predictor of clinical outcome. Samples from 73 patients with FL were evaluated for expression of germinal centre (GC) markers. The level of GC differentiation, as determined by the levels of PU.1, CD75, CD20, Bcl-6, and CD10 expression, had an association with outcome. There was a quantitative positive association between high level of expression of GC antigens and longer overall and progression-free survival even when data were stratified by the FLIPI score.
COBISS.SI-ID: 436347